So you’re off to college and excited about the experience. For the first time ever, you are moving away from your parents' house and are venturing into dorm room living. All seems great but yet, there is slight anxiety building on how you can eat healthy while living in that dorm. The last thing you want to do is succumb to late night take-out meals and fast food. While that’s fun initially, unless you are willing to pack on the "freshman 15," you need to find a way to eat healthily.

While this may feel like mission impossible, it really doesn’t have to be. Here are a few tips to remember with regards to how you can fuel your body right despite living in a dorm room.

Purchase a Microwave for Your Room

As long as it’s permitted by your dorm association, consider purchasing a microwave for your room. Is the ideal cooking method? No. But it’s sure a lot healthier than eating deep fried foods.

Most dorms will have a common cooking area that contains a microwave as well, but waiting to use it may be a pain and if it’s not close to your room, you may not want to take that trip every time you get hungry.

Having one in your room will allow for many possibly including preparing oatmeal, rice, eggs, even things like chicken and steak. It may not taste amazing, but it’ll be nutritionally a lot better for you than some other options you could be choosing.

You might also consider taking a trip home to your parents (if they live nearby), meal prepping in bulk on the weekend and then provided you do have a fridge in your room, using the microwave to reheat your food.

Mini fridges can be relatively cost effective and can be a good investment for your time away.

Invest in a Grill

Another cooking tool to consider is an electric grill. These work excellent for grilling vegetables as well as meats, so you can really get a fairly complete meal using them.

Best of all, they require nothing more than an electrical outlet. This may mean doing dishes in your bathroom sink, but you do what you need to in order to get by.

Don’t Underestimate Boiling Water From a Coffee Pot

Also remember that if you do have a coffee maker in your room, this will make an unlimited supply of hot water as well. This can be used very easily to prepare your breakfast of a bowl of oatmeal with a scoop of protein powder stirred in.

It’ll beat the muffin you get from the cafeteria any day of the week.

Go Raw

Finally, don’t overlook all the great raw food options that are out there that you can keep in your room that don’t need to be placed in the fridge or cooked. For example, look for whole grain crackers and smear them with a little natural peanut butter. Or buy a trail mix to have on hand. Most fruits like apples, oranges, and bananas keep very well out at room temperature as well, so pair them with a little nut butter and you have a quick snack on the go.

Canned tuna and salmon are also great protein options, as are lower sodium beef jerky and protein powder. There are also many quality protein bars you can consider as well to help fuel your body while living in a dorm.

So as you can see, it doesn’t have to be impossible to eat healthy while living in a dorm. If you are willing to sacrifice slightly on taste and invest in a few key cooking items, you should have no problem avoiding the "freshman 15."

_{[Image via Getty]}